St Bartholomew’s Day comes on 24th August – 40 days after St Swithin’s Day. Both are folk lore predictors of weather. Maybe you remember the saying:
“St Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days will rain na mair”
How closely we’d all watch for rain or sun!
Less well known, perhaps, is the piece of folk lore surrounding St Bartholomew:
‘If St Bartholomew be clear, a prosperous autumn comes that year.’
I rather like the saying, ‘All the tears that St Swithin can cry, St Bartelmy’s mantle will wipe dry…’
Bee keepers are also reminded that ‘On St Bartholomew’s day take the honey away.’
Honey is delicious when enjoyed on hot buttered toast – but it has numerous other benefits.
In ancient times honey was used for embalming purposes but it also aids the living. Aristotle (around 350BC) undertook research into the healing and antiseptic properties of honey and Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed honey for sores and ulcers.
Research continues today into the effects of honey on heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure and numerous other conditions – so we can rightly celebrate the honey harvest around St Bartholomew’s Day.
